Word history

Monier-Williams (1899) records rajaka with the sense “launderer”. Rajaka is the dictionary word for a washer or launderer. The literal meaning is part of occupational vocabulary. रजक preserves the consonant sequence of the Sanskrit word, while Rajak omits its final vowel in English spelling. No account of a particular household’s work follows from this dictionary definition. The Sanskrit stem includes a final short vowel. The shorter Latin form drops it.

Sources: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899) · headword rajaka, page 863, column 1, entry L173884

Literal dictionary sense

rajaka: Launderer.

Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899) · headword rajaka, page 863, column 1, entry L173884

Native-script forms

रजक · Devanagari

Sources and attribution

Dictionary senses and word histories are selected and adapted. Adapted lexical text is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Linked Wiktionary entries provide contributor histories. Source register.